The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for washing mechanical parts using a multipurpose aqueous- or solvent-based parts washer. Mechanical parts collect dirt, abrasion residue, used grease, and other debris during normal operation. During periodic maintenance, extraordinary maintenance, repairs, and scheduled upgrades, mechanics disassemble parts from a larger mechanical element, such as a car engine or other industrial equipment. Individual parts and subassemblies must be washed before they are either discarded, diagnosed, and reinstalled or before they are reconditioned for further use.
A parts washer is an apparatus that cleans parts, either individually or in groups of parts, including but not limited to machinery and machine parts. Parts washers can also clean elements such as chains, tools, and other elements susceptible to contamination from contact with greased or oiled parts. These cabinet-sized devices are an essential tool for any mechanic or worker who cleans parts in a workshop. For example, automobile mechanics place parts washers alongside tools or adjacent their work areas. The fundamental technology associated with parts washers is not unlike the technology associated with the cleaning of kitchen utensils and other food preparation accessories, the significant difference being that mechanical parts washer residue must be controlled before the effluents are released into the environment. Therefore, different cleaning solutions are often used, parts are generally washed infrequently once dirt is dried, oil-based effluents must be collected and confined, insoluble debris must be collected and filtered as sludge, and cleaning solutions are regenerated. The workshop environment in which parts washers are used also differs from location to location. Some parts washers use an aqueous cleaning solution to dissolve and remove grease, carbon, resin, tar, ink, and other debris. These parts washers use water, soap, and/or detergents, either commonly available or proprietary. Other more aggressive parts washers use hydrocarbon-based solvents or other solvents to degrease and wash parts. What is contemplated by this disclosure is a parts washer capable of using any type of cleaning solution, but more preferably, a parts washer capable of using either an aqueous-based or a solvent-based cleaning solution.
Before the arrival of parts washers, mechanics used small containers, collected a small volume of cleaning solution from a drum, and used ordinary sinks. Washing operations of the sink itself were required and a large volume of cleaning solution was wasted during each wash, since most cleaning solutions can be reused. A first generation of parts washers resemble a sink positioned over a reservoir where a cleaning solution is stored and recycled. An operator of the manual parts washer might push a pedal or take other action to activate a pump submerged in the cleaning solution reservoir and auxiliary heating element located within the reservoir might heat the cleaning solution to increase solubility of the circulating fluid, much like hot water is preferred during dishwashing operations. In a second generation of parts washers, manual washing operations were mostly been replaced with automated washing.
There are many advantages to manual parts washers over automated parts washing operations. For instance, they allow for tactile recognition of fine layers of dirt on parts having complex configurations. Manual cleaning also allows for the focus of cleaning efforts at a specific location, as well as to allow parts to be cleaned immediately. Other types of manual parts washers from the prior art include Safety-Kleen® Sink Models 16, 17, 30, 31, etc. Model 16, for example, comprises a metal sink with a pivoting lid placed on a drum that acts as the cleaning solution reservoir. These devices correspond to the first generation of parts washers.
In the 16/30, a pumping system is inserted within the drum and is functionally connected to a spray device in the sink. While highly effective over manual operations, this model can be functionally improved to enhance the overall effectiveness of parts washers. First, washing sinks are generally rectangular in shape for optimal usefulness, but these sinks are often nested on a cylindrical reservoir designed for rotational displacement ease and resistance to shock during transportation. As a result, the parts washer can become unstable if weight is placed in the corners of a rectangular sink placed atop a cylindrical reservoir. Cylindrical reservoirs, generally industrial drums, also have limited aesthetic value and often get dirty or bumped in work environments. If a reservoir is bumped, its top surface may be deformed, and a sink resting on the surface is then unstable.
Second, during the process of changing and replacing dirty cleaning solution that has been used to clean parts over a certain period of time, the sink must be removed from the reservoir and rested on a protected surface. The pump attachment connected to the bottom end of the sink is extracted from the drum and drips of cleaning solution. Parts washing also often requires the use of additional external light when they are placed in remote locations of work areas. Currently, an industrial lamp is attached to the lid at a location remote from the work area. The placement of a targeted spot lamp away from the washing area does not optimize illumination during the different washing operations.
In addition, since grease and oil exhibit under certain circumstances flammable properties that can be set aflame, fusible materials are used in the art to release holding devices of lids. The placement and orientation of fusible materials, when used in conjunction with locking mechanisms and latching mechanisms, is often troublesome. A fusible link must be in thermal proximity to a heat source but away from abrasion, shock, or work areas to optimize work performance of the overall parts washer.
Parts washers are generally stored where parts are removed or processed for convenient use. Auto repair shops, for example, are often equipped with multiple repair bays. A team of mechanics remove parts to be washed at different locations. Many mechanics prefer using only their assigned tools, though they are often less possessive of a parts washer. Immediate access to a proximate parts washer often trumps the need for an assigned washer. Confined spaces and other constraints associated with workshops warrant compact and portable devices. Parts washers must also be robust and durable under strenuous and prolonged use. Finally, industrial parts washers are designed with metal parts to be resistant to the shocks and impacts with the heavy metal parts cleaned within the sink. Metal, even when painted, can corrode if in contact with humid corrosive solutions, and once bumped, can change shape.
What is needed is a third generation of parts washer capable exhibiting all the advantages of the first generation of washers, including but not limited to low cost, use of industrial drums of multiple sizes as a reservoir, lighting, portability, and simplicity of use with novel and useful features without losing the advantages of the first generation of parts washers. What is also needed is a series of operative and functional improvements to aid operators of the parts washer during washing.